Photo: (L-R) Chris Titheridge, Lisa Kilvert, Danny Simpson and Gail Torrens at the 2008 Pan Pacific Masters Games. Lisa Kilvert at the 2024 Pan Pacific Masters Games.
For 52-year-old Lisa Kilvert, the Pan Pacific Masters Games tenpin bowling competition is more than just a sport – it’s a lifetime of friendships and unforgettable memories.
Too young to compete at the 2002 Games, Lisa became involved that year as an accidental volunteer.
“I was a theatre nurse and had just moved to the Gold Coast from Penrith and while I was taking a drive to see what was around, I saw the old Labrador bowling lanes.
“I had bowled a bit back in News South Wales, so I went in more out of curiosity than anything, and I saw that the ASPAC Masters Games [the precursor to the Pan Pacific Masters Games] was happening and the place was buzzing.
“Three people who are now among my very best of friends, Chris Titheridge, Danny Simpson and Gail Torrens asked me if I’d like to help with running score sheets and lane marshalling.
“I had nothing else on that day and they looked like they could use a hand and that was the start of what has been a wonderful two-decade friendship with them and association with the Games,” she said.
In 2008 Lisa stepped onto the glossy timbers as a fully-fledged competitor in the over-35s division and has since snared nearly 60 medals – plenty of them gold.
She also holds seven competition records.
One of Lisa’s first major achievements came in her debut Games, where she struck gold in the prestigious Master of Masters category.
But this year she will be doing it a bit tougher than usual after being bowled over a few months ago by a heart condition that makes it hard to stand more than five or ten minutes at a time.
But she’s determined to forge on.
“My story, in many ways, is the epitome of what the Masters Games are all about,” Lisa said.
“I went from volunteering to competing, and now, I don’t even know how many Games I’ve helped organise on the committee side.
“And this week I’ll not be stepping onto the lanes alone; I’ll be bowling for two people – myself and my dad who passed away earlier this year.
“He would be saying to give it a rest with everything I have going on, but in my heart, the good side of my heart at least, I’m determined to do it for him,” she said.
And there’s the other motivation of the memories made.
“The Pan Pacific Masters Games is just one of the best events I’ve ever been a part of; it has given me the best friends and friendships anyone could ever ask for,” she said.
Tenpin bowling continues every day at the Ashmore Bowling Lanes at various session times until Saturday 9 November.
